Cheap cold weather tips
 

Hey guys, now that winter is knocking on our door steps I was just curious what some other fellow bombers are doing for cheap cold fronts?

dont let big brother catch ya but a little kerosene will keep ur fuel from gellin up:w2:. all the fuel companies this far north have a winter blend fuel, but it doesnt hurt to have a little extra protection. plus pluggin your truck in will make the starter's job alot easier. if your gonna start it n let it warm up, use a stick or somethin between the pedal n the seat to bump your idle to about 1200 rpms. me personally, i fold the mirrors in n park the beast in the garage haha.

on a side note im not sure what happened on facebook earlier but my chat just quit workin on me

how much kerosene u addin to the fuel? certain mix? any noticeable changes other than antigel protection?

and since the question has already been asked about cold weather protection, what about oil pan heaters, battery wraps/trickle chargers, and so on. what about trans fluid?

For you auto guys put the tranny in nuetral to help warm up the fluid because the gears will turn etc. For a cheap cold front just stick some cardboard between the intercooler and the radiator

Oil pan heaters are definitely good - there are the magnet type or the other type that get glued to the oilpan (Wolvarine is one name that comes to mind). Trickle chargers are great of course as long as your batteries arent frozen. Battery blankets are good too but if you plug them for more than half of an hour when its warmer than -30, you will boil the battery dry. For the tranny, you could also use an oil pan heater. But thats not going to help the truck start any easier in the cold.

Other things you can do is switch to a 5W40 or 0W40 synthetic oil. Doing so helps a whole lot.

The best money that you can spend is on an Espar or Webasto hydronic coolant heater. But they are far from cheap.

Also, be sure to regularily empty your water seperator. I had one freeze up when it was minus 30. It was a fun job fixing that.

i just get stuff my dad has for his peterbilt and put in there then plug it up on the coldest nights i dont want it to get addicted to it

huh?

a quart of tranny fluid with every other fill up or so doesnt hurt. it acts as a great anti-geller, plus keeps all the fuel lines nice and lubricated

please, please, please, dont add anything to the fuel except anti gelling fuel additive. if tranny fluid was good for the truck, don't you think that it would be marketed that way? use only approved additives. kerosene isn't a good idea either. it's meant for other things, not fuel. good luck.

rande

I have some 1/8" plastic bolted to my grill for a winter front. It was scraps I found at work, just took some time to trim it and drill some holes. Six bolts hold each side on and I keep a cordless impact with me in case I need to take them out. :c:

anti gel we dont have winter treated diesel here and ive never put kerosene in it. and i always heard a truck can get addicted to be plugged up everynight in the winter so i dont

thanks for all the great comments guys. To those of you who do use a cold front, does it make a noticeable difference?

REMEMBER EVERYBODY

the stock Cummins Block Heater is 750W... so leaving it plugged up all night can be costly...

Imma get a cheap timer from Lowes or Home Depot for like $20 and program the outlet to cut on 1-2 hours before I start it up in the morning for work... :rocking:

they have the remote turn on light plugs. when you wake up in the morning turn on the block heater.

Use Howes additive. In over 20 years it has never let me down. Follow the directions, more is not better.

I also use two stroke oil but it does nothing to aid in cold weather starting.

Thanks dude Ive been wondering for a while how much power it sucked.

Trucks don't get addicted to being plugged in. That's ludacris. Being plugged in makes it warmer, which tightens up the tolerances, results in a quicker start with less wash down and better combustion which leads to less wear. Plugging in is good!

I know its off the subject but my father in law was in alaska for his army tour during viet nam and he said to get cars started when it was - 60 deg they would fill a garbage can lid with brickets, light and put under car then when car was toasty light newspaper and hold on carb and crank engine, but i dont recomend trying. haha

What do you guys think of this. I'm planning on cutting a custom intake plate with two holes instead of one like Banks' Twin Ram and wiring in a second heat grid. That should essentially double your intake heater capabilities as well as a great flowing intake. Anybody else tried something like this? My buddy just got stranded at work because he cant park near any outlets.

I have a winter front on my Dodge and It makes a world of difference! I used to have trouble keeping the windsheild defrosted and it would ice up in bad contions real easy. The winter front keeps a steadier warmer temp, it actually mad it up to 180 degrees once today! It get a lot warmer in the cab too. Have to crack a window or I boil over! I'll see about getting a picture of my winter front on here..oh and I got it brand new on eaby 5 yrs ago for $15. On another note.. kerosene is not fuel?? Then what is it? I have a kerosene heater and if not mistaken... it's almost jet fuel. There was an article in Diesel Power Mag about a guy that ran straight trans fluid in I think an expedition..kindof a bio fuel deal or a waste oil burner.... Excuse the block heater that I also love to use with a Battery tender 800Ma waterproof charger that is perinantly mounted under hood with block heater plugged into 3 way 6 ft extension cord which is why my cord poking out the front is orange! The fog and driving lights were in the proccess of getting wired. Attachment 42992 Attachment 42993 Attachment 42994

I stopped using a timer the night after it failed for the first time! It was a bitch to get enough heat into the oil to warm the motor @ -37C ! I have a magnetic heater that didn't even begin to catch up to the cold! As it turned out the timer had a bad output plug!

Well kerosene is #1 diesel. and the cummins engine was built for it. only problem i see is that it's not legal to use as a fuel source because the government doesn't tax it.

:rocking:Exactly! Thats why I have no intentions on selling my 12V... if things went terribly wrong in this world... I can just about pee in my tank and she will run on it!!:rocking:

Yes Jet Fuel is high grade Kerosene. I was an airport lineman for years and knew a pilot that ran his Ford entirely off what he sumped from the jets. Ran great for years without trouble last I heard.

I'd be curious to see your protype...sounds like a very doable thing. Could you try to incorporate into your design a way that the Prime-loc fuel filter relocating kit could still work with it?

Had to look it up to see what you were talking about. My plan was just mandrel bent tubing so that Prime-loc mounting plate probably wouldn't work but it itself is a relocation mount so with a little hose you could hang it anywhere. Do you even still need that filter if a Fuel Dog or similar is used?

I suppose ya could mount it anywhere.. but the mounting plate is purpose bent/built to keep filter close enough to the motor to have some warmth in the winter but up and out enough to get that PIA fuel filter changed with out sounding like saylor! The FuelDog set up is probably a great set up, I don't have one, but I wonder if having a filter down under the truck causes it's own fuel gelling issues. I suppose we can hope some one chimes in on that cold weather issue...if it is one.

i just cut out a peice of card board the size of my radiator and slipped it in between the radiator and intercooler, to help it warm up cuz otherwise it dont blow much heat

otherwise i never have problems starting my truck, and have been running straight #2 all winter

Hey Wes, what kind of gas mileage do you get with your truck tuned up like you have?

i was gettins around 20 b4 my tranny burnt up now its probably around 10 or 12 cuz my tourque is burnt up and 4 slipps at 50-55 havent checked latley thou. and now my pump is gutted and no plate,

tuning doesent affect milage much its more how you drive it, if you drive normally you should get around 20 or better running #2 fuel if your blacking out every corner milage goes way down

Thats not true. I see people all the time that get 2-3 mpg better on a good tune compared to stock. It has to do with timing. One of the effects of advanced timing is an increase in MPG, and many tuners/modules/etc. feature advanced timing on their tunes. You can do it on you 12v, but its a little more complicated than pushing a button lol

i agree that timing will help with milage but ive tried to tune my afc and plate and never noticed milage gain the only milage gain i have seen is when my driving habbits changed

Well yeah on a 12v, of course theres not as much of a chance that you will improve mileage just by adjusting plate and AFC, you have more of a chance of dropping your mileage, depending on driving habits lol

Really no matter what you drive, and what kind of tuning you have, driving habits will have a major effect on your mileage. Bu they way you have your truck setup is also a major factor.

my truck is sooooo addicted to being plugged up i have to do it when its above 32f. its ridicolous. just dont plug it in too much

You got other issues bro if it wont start at 32 unplugged.......

you think its just the heater itself. my psd uses glow plugs. you think its that. not to hijack this thread.

Im no powerstroke guy but at work the n/a 7.3's and 6.9's wouldnt start unless we use the glow plugs....and thats even in the 40's an 50's during the spring. Although we also beat the piss outa them too and they certainly dont get the greatest maintenance so I'm sure theres something wrong.

the old 7.3 and 6.9 were IDI motors. There aint an IDI motor out there that will start at less than 130 degrees without the glowplugs or ether.... Or LOOOOTTTTSSSSSS of cranking. LOL

Nature of the beast.

As for smokeblower, I think you've either got a non-functioning grid heater setup, air leaks in your fuel system, somethin......

Yeah sounds like glow plugs.....

that or fuel related,
check to see if the grid heater is working,

ive been starting mine in -15 latley